It is common knowledge that incontinent persons, many elderly and infants have difficulty controlling urination and often discharge or excrete large amount of urine suddenly, thus causing a fluid surge in the crotch area. Uncontrolled fluid surge results in leakage of fluid unless the absorbent article is especially constructed to contain the fluid surge in order to prevent or minimize fluid leakage.
Several different structures have been disclosed for absorbent articles in an effort to control or ameliorate the adverse effects of fluid surge in absorbent articles used by incontinent persons, the elderly and infants. One early patent, i.e., U.S. Pat. No. 3,889,679 issued Jun. 17, 1975 to Glenn N. Taylor, III, describes a disposable diaper which comprises a liquid impervious backing sheet and an absorbent body having a multiplicity of openings therein which extend through said absorbent body thus defining a corresponding multiplicity of fluid passages. The surging fluid flows directly through the absorbent body toward the liquid impervious backing sheet remote from the absorbent body. The passages are cylindrical, have a diameter of from about ¼ to about 1-inch and are provided through the full extent of the absorbent body.
In a more recent patent, i.e., U.S. Pat. No. 5,300,053 issued Apr. 5, 1994 to Donald M. Genaro, an absorbent brief is described which comprises a liquid-permeable top layer, a liquid-impervious backing layer and absorbent layer sandwiched between said two layers. The absorbent layer has a dispersion channel which extends through the absorbent layer to the liquid-impervious layer for providing unobstructed liquid flow. As shown in FIG. 1 of the Genaro patent, liquid flowing through the distribution channel 18 can be channeled to secondary channels 18′, 18″ which, together with distribution channel 18, form a generally Y-shaped channel.
Others have proposed structures for absorbent articles which rely on increased volume of the absorbent pad to absorb the surging fluid and minimize or prevent fluid leak. However, increased volume of absorbent pad contributes to bulkiness of the article which results in inferior fit around the body of the wearer.
It has also been suggested to use an absorbent pad made of a high absorbency material, or use superabsorbent polymers (SAP) in the absorbent pad but these alternatives are costly even if the bulkiness of the article is not increased. Others have incorporated an acquisition layer having a basis weight of 50-100 grams per square meter (GSM) in the structure of the absorbent article in order to reduce the “insult time” but this results in increased cost of the article.
There is thus a dire need for an absorbent pad for use in diapers, incontinent briefs and the like articles, which is effective for minimizing or preventing fluid leakage caused by sudden fluid surge in and around the crotch area.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a liquid absorbent pad for use in absorbent articles, wherein the absorbent pad has a unique construction designed to accommodate and contain fluid surge caused by sudden urination.
It is, another object of this invention to provide a liquid absorbent pad useful in absorbent articles wherein the absorbent pad has a single large through slit for accommodating fluid surge and minimizing fluid leaks from the crotch area of the absorbent article.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a disposable absorbent article such as diapers, briefs, incontinence garments, sanitary napkins, and the like articles comprising such liquid absorbent pads.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a disposable absorbent article which, due to its unique structure of the absorbent pad, helps maintains the top surface of the article dry after a surge of fluid such as by sudden urination.
The foregoing and other objects of the present invention will be more fully comprehended from the following detailed description of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.